


One of a Kind

by kellebelle



Category: Marvel (Movies)
Genre: De-aged tony, He's a cute kid, M/M, Some Fluff, Some angst, Some feels, Sorry this sucks!, Written for SteveTonyFest on tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2012-12-02
Packaged: 2017-11-20 02:05:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/580088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kellebelle/pseuds/kellebelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is turned back into his five-year-old self, and guess who Fury has assigned to babysit. </p>
<p>Tony is a swell kid. Too bad Howard never noticed. (One shot)</p>
            </blockquote>





	One of a Kind

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story in honor of the SteveTonyFest on tumblr. I apologize for the lack of plot. Not really. I just wanted to write a kid Tony and I hope I did okay. He's not a typical five-year-old considering he was able to build his first circuit board at four. I had this idea in my head, but at some point it turned into this, and I don't know why. Please refrain from throwing rotten tomatoes at me!

As the team (minus Tony naturally) sat down for their debriefing at S.H.I.E.L.D. after another surprise visit from Loki, Steve eyed Fury as the director paced back and forth before deciding to address the team. If anyone else thought this behavior was strange, no one said anything.

“It appears that we have come across a problem concerning Tony Stark.”

Steve sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Clint snorted.

“How do you mean, sir?”

Fury looked over at Steve and then the rest of the team.

“He came back to town several hours before Loki returned. I can only assume this is why it did not seem to bother you that he was not present for the battle.”

The rest of the team exchanged uncomfortable glances.

Clint spoke up. “Has he been compromised?”

At this Fury grinned slightly. “In a manner of speaking, yes. Unfortunately, cognitive recalibration is not going to fix this problem.” He gave Natasha a pointed look. She arched an eyebrow and gave a slight shrug.

“So how bad is it?”

Fury cleared his throat, and Steve suspected it was to cover a chuckle. “Let’s just say that he’s yours to deal with and it’s hard to say when this will be reversed. Until such a time, Iron Man is on the bench...for obvious reasons.”

The team waited in silence and Fury opened the door for Maria Hill to enter. She was holding the hand of a child. A small child with shaggy brown hair and a look of utter boredom. He couldn’t have been more than five.

Clint’s eyes widened rather comically. “Please don’t tell me that’s Tony. Holy shit.”

The child gave Clint a glare that erased all doubt that they were looking at Tony Stark. Fury looked down at Tony for a moment. “Our best guess is that Loki got to him before he even attacked the city. He seems to have no actual memory of his time as an adult, so he will not recognize any of you.”

Well this was not good. Steve frowned. “What makes you think he’d want to go with us?”

Tony turned his wide eyes toward Steve and his face lit up. “You’re Captain America.”

The soldier couldn’t help but smile at this because Tony did look genuinely excited. “Yeah.”

The smile fell from the child’s face and he tilted his head thoughtfully. “My dad keeps saying that you’re dead, but maybe if I tell him I found you he’ll be proud.”

Steve quickly inhaled and glanced over at Clint and Natasha. They were staring at Tony, and for once, appeared to be completely clueless as to what they should be doing. So he looked back over at Tony and gave him a quick smile. Tony looked as if he were analyzing Steve and walked toward him.

“My dad talks about you all the time. He thinks you’re the best. And he always goes on these trips to try and find you.”

The soldier smiled nervously. How do you tell a small child that his parents are dead? He was going to ask for them sooner or later. “Is that so?”

Tony nodded and moved even closer to Steve. “I think you’re cool. I have my very own Captain America costume and Jarvis lets me wear it whenever I want to. I told my dad that I wanted to be just like you and he told me that’d be impossible.”

“I uh...”

Tony just continued to talk. Apparently this was something he has always enjoyed doing. “He said that you have a special serum that made you strong and that it can’t be made again, but I think he is mean and he doesn’t listen to me anyway. I told him I could be like you anyway and he said that would never happen.”

Steve huffed, his forehead wrinkling. Tony seemed to misunderstand this because his face shut down, and how did he already know how to do that?

“Is my dad right?”

Steve shook his head. “No, Tony. He’s not, but you should be Tony because you’re good at being Tony.”

Tony shrugged a little. “My mom tells me I’m just like my dad. It’s ‘cause I’m smart.”

The blonde did laugh at this and reached out to ruffle Tony’s hair without even thinking about it. “Yes, I know. You’re very smart.”

The boy beamed at Steve. “Maybe I can show you what I made. I make a lot of things.”

Steve rested his arm against his legs and leaned forward so he was closer to Tony’s eye level. “I’d love that. I bet you make amazing things.”

“They’re not very good. Not yet. My dad said they’ll be good one of these days if I keep trying, but what if they’re not?”

“I’m sure they’re just swell, Tony.” He sat up as he remembered the rest of the team was in the room still and they were all watching Tony and Steve intently. “So, who wants to go home?”

Tony was suddenly looking down at his shoes, fidgeting nervously. “Can I come? Can you take me with you? I think my dad will want to see you anyway.”

Steve searched his brain for what to say. “Of course you can come, but...well, we can’t take you to your parents. We’re going to Stark Tower though. Do you want to see it?”

“Stark Tower? Did my dad make a tower too?”

Clint cleared his throat. “No, your dad did not make it. Someone he knows did, and he let all of us live there. It’s really tall, buddy. You’ll love it.”

Tony looked from Clint to Steve for verification, and Steve wondered just how much this was going to happen. “It’s all true.”

“Why can’t you take me to my parents?”

Steve looked up at Fury, eyebrows raised.

Fury stayed where he was standing, and Steve was unable to tell if the man was upset or if he was trying to avoid giving Tony a pitiful look. “They went on a trip together, and they will be gone for awhile.”

Tony accepted this and nodded. “Oh. Again. Then I want to go home with Captain America.”

*****

The trip to the mall was painful. This had more to do with Clint being just as much of a child as Tony...when Tony was actually an adult. They discovered quickly, and much to their surprise, that Tony Stark as a child acted nothing like a child in the sense that he managed to have a full understanding of what fell under acceptable and what did not. The shop clerks were impressed and insulted at the same time because Tony as a child was a force to be reckoned with. His understanding of percentages and crisp cuts on all clothing was funnier more than it was worrisome.

Luckily, that trip was over and they returned to the tower with a bundle of new clothes for Tony and some new toys. These toys fell under the category of tools and pieces for what he said would be a robot, but Tony was going to do what he wanted no matter what.

So they had not taken the absence of a human Jarvis into consideration until Tony had asked if they could bring him to the tower too. The AI version had caused him to jump upon first hearing it speak and Tony was wondering why the AI sounded like the butler. Steve was pretty annoyed with Fury for forcing them to try and answer all of these questions for Tony. No one wanted to have these conversations with a five-year-old, and everyone was apparently looking to Steve to answer these questions. It wasn’t helping that Tony had practically glued himself to Steve’s side, and Steve did not mind, but he had no idea what to do either. They knew they needed to come up with some answers fast, but in the meantime chose to focus on distracting the child.

When Clint mentioned visiting the archery range, Tony surprised everyone by begging to go. Clint stared at Tony for a moment before shrugging. “Sure, why not?”

So that’s how Clint ended up being forced into giving archery lessons to a child prodigy who watched him with fascination. Tony had called him Robin Hood and said he wanted to try. Tony was nothing if not eager to learn, and Clint had to reassure him that it was okay if he wasn’t good at it. Tony had looked as though he wanted to cry and Clint reminded him that he was not able to build his own circuit board.

Then Tony wanted to watch Natasha spar with Steve because no one could beat Captain America. When he was proven wrong on that he was actually smiling. Natasha grinned and ruffled his hair and Tony pushed her hand away.

“You’re kind of scary, Natasha.”

Natasha chuckled. “I know.”

Tony grinned. “See? Even Captain America can be beat, so my dad is wrong. Right? Then I can be like you.”

Steve smiled. “Why do you want to be like me, Tony?”

Tony actually blushed a little but answered as if it was plainly obvious. “Because you’re a hero. That’s why.”

Steve had no idea what to do with this. In his mind, he knew that Tony was only five years old and the idea of superheroes was probably cool to any kid that age, but he also knew that it had to mean something different too. Tony knew he was a genius, knew what he was capable of and had so much to be proud of this early in his life. Then again, he was a kid and probably had no idea how important his genius was, and definitely had no idea how it would end up saving his life in the future. Present. Whenever he remembered. Gosh, this was confusing.

*****

“Steve! Steve, I built you something!”

Steve smiled down at Tony, who was practically bouncing with excitement. “Show me!”

Tony grinned and reached out to take Steve’s hand. “It’s not like a circuit board or anything, but I hope you’ll think it’s neat anyway.”

Steve just allowed himself to be dragged along. “I’m sure I’ll love it, Tony.”

When they reached Tony’s temporary bedroom, Steve had to take a moment to figure out when an explosion might have occurred. There were tools everywhere. Each of them took turns spending time with Tony while he worked to make sure he wouldn’t get hurt, but everyone knew Tony preferred Steve’s presence.

Steve had found this endearing because he was so much more open like this than he was as an adult. He thought Tony was a great kid, and he was happy to see that Howard had been his father. Tony never spoke of Howard. When he did it was always with an air of disinterest as an adult and trepidation as a child. Steve loved Tony as a child, but he was missing adult Tony more than he let on. Once they were able to get past the initial disdain they’d felt for each other (and he’s not going to pretend that didn’t take awhile because they were both stubborn as hell), they found that they were able to get along remarkably well.

Tony presented Steve with his gift, looking hopeful. “I know it’s not perfect, but I can keep working on it until it is.”

Steve sat down on the floor and held the tiny robot dog in his hands. He grinned when it started barking. He laughed when it started doing tricks. “Tony, this is-this is great! I can’t believe you made this so fast!”

Tony was still watching Steve’s face and smiled. “Dad will get mad at me if he sees it. So don’t tell him.”

Steve frowned at Tony then. “Why do you think he’d get mad at you?”

Tony shrugged. “He always does. He’d say I wasted my time making something that isn’t useful. It probably has a lot of flaws too. I tried to fix most, but whatever isn’t good enough I can definitely work on later.”

Steve wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulders and hugged him. “I think it’s perfect the way it is, Tony. I can’t build anything like that.”

Tony shrugged again and wrapped his tiny arms around Steve’s neck. “Maybe that’s why my dad likes you more than everyone else. You make people feel good about themselves.”

Steve gently pulled Tony away from him. “Why do you keep saying that your dad likes me so much?”

“Because he does. Because you’re awesome.”

Steve gave him a small smile. “You’re awesome too, Tony.”

Tony beamed proudly. “Thank you. I really can’t wait for my dad to see you again. He’s always grumpy when he can’t find you, and I found you before he did. Do you think he’ll like me more when he sees that I have you?”

Steve had no clue how to respond to this. Instead he hugged Tony again. “I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to not like you.”

“Then why doesn’t my dad like me, Steve? I try to be like you, and I try to tell him I want to be like you so he’ll like me too, and he always says I can’t. I want to though. You’re nice and you smile at me. Dad never smiles at me. He is always mad and he drinks gross things. My mom said I’m just like him, but I don’t want to do all that stuff, Steve. I want to be like you.”

“What?” He found himself hugging Tony tighter, glad the kid wasn’t able to see his face right now. “Tony, I like you the way you are. If you were like me, then you wouldn’t be you. You’re wonderful.” Steve hated this. He hated it because he knew that Tony did grow up to be the very things he was scared of, never believing he was an actual hero. Nothing he said right now would change the future because this was Tony de-aged without memories, not any sort of time travel. “You have no idea how wonderful you are, Tony, but you are. I will always think you’re amazing, and I want you to remember that.”

Tony stayed quiet. He hugged Steve for a moment longer before letting go and then getting on the floor to make the robot dog show off some more tricks. Steve clapped and laughed.

“You’re not going to leave, are you? I want you to stay. Everyone leaves.” Tony wasn’t looking at Steve when he spoke, and he was speaking in a near whisper.

“No. I’m not going anywhere, Tony. I think you’re stuck with me.”

Tony patted the robot dog but smiled. “I’m glad.”

*****

Steve had his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall, watching Tony and Bruce while Bruce checked up on him.

“You guys know I’m not an actual medical doctor, right?”

Steve grinned and shrugged. “Who else are we going to take him to?”

Tony stayed quiet, observing Bruce closely while he checked his heart and such like a normal doctor would. He was swinging his tiny legs back and forth, eyes constantly darting around for any signs that he might be getting an unwanted shot.

“I know.” The doctor sighed and finished his examination of Tony.

“Why haven’t you turned into the green monster?” Tony questioned the doctor in earnest. “I want to see what he looks like. I bet he’s huuuuge.”

Bruce gave Tony a small grin. “I told you, Tony. He’s not safe to be around, and I’d hate myself if I accidentally hurt you.”

Tony sighed, not impressed with Bruce’s answer. “Can we go now? I’m hungry.”

“I could eat.”

“You eat a lot, Steve.”

Steve rolled his eyes and helped Tony down from the table, laughing silently. “I know. And you, sir, do not eat enough.”

Tony wrinkled his nose. “I do too. I’m still alive.”

Fifteen minutes later, Steve was somewhat amused to find himself being ordered to make pancakes with chocolate chips by Tony who now claimed he was starving.

“They’ll be ready soon, Tony. Go get washed up and changed into something else.”

Tony sighed as if this was the most inconvenient thing to ever happen to him and stomped away, but he was probably just going to tinker with Steve’s robot dog because he couldn’t seem to help himself in his quest to make it better than it already was.

And it was at that moment that Loki suddenly appeared in front of them. Natasha stood up straight and glowered at him. Bruce and Clint found themselves easing toward the path that existed between Loki and Tony at the moment. Steve clenched his jaw.

“Where in the hell did you come from?”

The trickster smirked. “Glad to know I’m still capable of surprising you lot. Not that it’s difficult, but...” He abruptly stopped speaking and looked pained, clacking his teeth together and hissing inwardly. “I’m under strict orders to turn Stark back into an adult. Thor is rather displeased, which pleases me, but no one has ever cared about what makes me happy, so why start now?”

“What was the point of doing this in the first place? Do you have any idea what it must be like for Tony right now to--”

Loki cut off Steve with a wide smirk. “Who says there had to be a reason? I did it because I wanted to. As much as I’d enjoy continuing this chat, I have places to be.” He snapped his fingers, most likely only for show, and was gone in an instant.

“Oh, son of a bitch!”

Tony was back.

*****

It was late and Steve was getting ready to sleep. Since Loki’s surprise visit (again), Tony had not come to find any of them, so that meant he was most likely brooding in his workshop, pretending he had too much work to do in order to avoid having to talk about what happened. He had found the robot dog abandoned and brought it back to his room with him, still smiling at it.

A knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts and he stood up to open it. Tony let himself in before Steve reached the door though and paused awkwardly.

“Oh. I was just--” he pointed at Steve’s hands. “The dog. I was going to take it. What are you doing with it?”

Steve lifted his eyebrows. “Because it was a gift?”

“Why would you want to keep it though? It’s just a stupid child’s toy.”

“You made it. I like it. I’m not giving it back.”

Tony furrowed his brow. “Well, okay, Mr. Mine Mine Mine. You don’t have to. I guess. You should at least let me improve it. I can teach it how to do more tricks. I can program it to respond to only you. I can probably make him more cuddly too.”

“Why are you so adamant about making it better?”

The genius sighed, obviously tired. “It’s what I do. I’m in the business of making improvements.”

“Not everything needs to be constantly improved upon. Sometimes the flaws are what makes something perfect.”

“Spoken like a true artist, Steve.” Tony let his eyes bounce up to Steve’s for only a moment and he smiled. “I guess I can let this one go. Or wait until you’re not around to protect it and then take it down to my workshop for updates.”

Steve just grinned. “Oh. Before I forget, I have some food for you. The pancakes aren’t...well they got cold, but I can make you more, but there is some pasta that I made for you afterwards because I knew you’d get hungry at some point.” He grabbed Tony’s hand and pulled him out of the room.

“You didn’t have to...”

“I know, but I figured you wouldn’t feed yourself, and you’ve been hiding for hours now. You made me a dog, the least I can do is make you dinner.”

Tony stopped when he was pulled into the kitchen. “No. You don’t. I mean, that’s not...I wanted to give you a dog because my silly kid brain thought it was how you got people to like you. And I already liked you. I mean I still like you, and don’t even think of holding these statements over my head because I’m still recovering from the trauma of you guys having to see what I was like as a kid, but I guess if you liked me back, then...” He paused, looking downward.

“I already liked you, Tony. You were a good kid. You’re a good person now. And also, I’m sure your dad liked you a lot, loved you too, but I’m not--you don’t need to be like me, you never have. I know you know this now. Howard was an idiot for leaving you all the time, for making you feel like the things you did were never good enough, and I’m sorry that you had to think that becoming like me would make him like you better. You’re really swell the way you are.”

Tony gave Steve a strange look. “It’s okay. I’m okay. You really don’t have to--”

“Just accept the damn compliment, Tony, because it’s true.”

“I know. I’m pretty awesome, aren’t I?” He winked at Steve. “I guess I just want to know why you’re so determined to make sure I believe it. Especially since all I did was cling to you, which by the way, I’m going to have Jarvis erase all evidence of that.”

“I didn’t mind. I enjoy being with you no matter how old you are. And your five-year-old self is a lot more mature than your adult self.”

Tony stepped right into Steve’s space and scrutinized him for a moment. Steve watched him closely. Tony’s proximity usually had a strange effect on him, and it was something he’d never told him. He wanted to lean forward and kiss him, make him believe that everything he was saying was true. No one wanted to see Tony being happy quite like Steve did, and even if Tony did not return his feelings, at least he had to know that Steve wasn’t joking. Steve thought the world of him.

And then Tony was kissing him.

Steve placed the robodog on the counter and reached up to cup Tony’s face with both hands, thumbs gently stroking over his cheekbones. He pulled Tony’s face closer to his and the genius actually moaned, hands flying up to Steve’s shoulders as he deepened the kiss.

And then Tony was pulling away, breathing heavily.

“Was that weird?”

Steve chuckled. “No. Not at all.”

Tony sighed and nodded. “Good. Kiss me again.”

Steve did. Happily.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
